Prospects in Theoretical Physics 2018 to Explore Connections Between Quantum Information and the Structure of Spacetime

Approximately 166 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from 76 different institutions, representing 21 countries, will participate in “From Qubits to Spacetime,” the theme of Prospects in Theoretical Physics (PiTP) 2018, an intensive two-week summer program of the Institute for Advanced Study to be held July 16 to 27. The program, which is now in its seventeenth year, aims to train the next generation of scholars in theoretical physics, and will cover topics ranging from the connections between quantum information and the structure of spacetime, to how information is shared between subsystems and is manipulated by the dynamics, and how quantum effects can be included in black hole thermodynamics.

“We are very happy with the extraordinary response we have had, both from the students who applied, as well as the lecturers who were very glad to come,” said Juan Maldacena, Carl P. Feinberg Professor in the School of Natural Sciences. “It is an interesting time to explore the deep connections between quantum information theory, quantum field theory, and the structure of spacetime.”

First held by the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute in 2002, PiTP provides lectures and informal sessions on the latest advances in different areas of theoretical physics. The goal of the program is for the School of Natural Sciences, which mainly focuses on the training of postdoctoral fellows, to contribute in a small way to the training of graduate students as well. A special effort is made to reach out to women and minorities, as well as to graduate students coming from institutions with smaller graduate programs in theoretical science.

PiTP 2018 will feature lecturers including Juan Maldacena (Carl P. Feinberg Professor), Edward Witten (Charles Simonyi Professor); Members Ahmed Almheiri and Douglas Stanford of the Institute for Advanced Study; Matthew Headrick of Brandeis University; Atish Dabholkar of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy; Daniel Harlow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and former Members Leonard Susskind and Aron Wall of Stanford University, Scott Aaronson of the University of Texas at Austin, and Thomas Faulkner of the University of Illinois.

For more information, visit www.sns.ias.edu/pitp.